2010’s Salt was a huge blockbuster hit and star vehicle for Angelina Jolie, but why did the Salt 2 movie fail to materialize? Angelina Jolie was a regular face in the action genre in the mid-2000s, which include her Tomb Raider movies and comic adaptation Wanted. Tom Cruise was originally attached to Salt, which dealt with a CIA agent named Edwin Salt going on the run when he’s accused of being a Russian mole. Cruise was attached for over a year before departing, as he felt the character was a little too close to Mission: Impossible’s Ethan Hunt.
Angelina Jolie stepped in, and many expected another Angelina Jolie Salt movie after the first Salt grossed $293 million at the box office. Salt also boasted a strong cast outside of Angelina Jolie, with Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Andre Braugher. The movie was poised to become a new franchise, but over a decade after its release, it’s clear that a Salt sequel is unlikely to happen. However, while there may have been a sequel tease in Salt‘s ending, nothing came to follow up the rest of the movie — and that might’ve been for the better. Here’s why the Salt 2 movie never materialized and the potential future of a new Angelina Jolie Salt movie.
Salt 2 Updates: Where Are They?
With no sign of Salt 2 moving forwards, a report emerged in 2016 that Sony was developing a Salt TV series instead. The sequel tease at the end of the movie would have perfectly set up show, with Evelyn Salt tracking down various moles. That said, this concept is also quite similar to The Blacklist, which may be one reason nothing has been heard about a Salt series ever since. Angelina Jolie has shown a willingness to return for sequels like Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, but given that more than 10 years have passed without Salt 2, it’s very unlikely she will return to the role.
Salt 2 Cast
In the years that followed the first movie, Salt 2 was developed, but it doesn’t appear to have gained much traction. Jolie rejected a draft for Salt 2 in 2012 (via Indie Wire), which was penned by Kurt Wimmer, the writer of the first movie. While reports of the sequel still being developed would follow, the actress’ involvement remained in question. In truth, while Angelina Jolie’s movie Salt was a hit, it wasn’t a box-office juggernaut relative to its $110 million budget. So, after years of fruitless development, its likely Sony opted to let the project quietly die.
Though there are no details about Wimmer’s script for Salt 2, it’s safe to say that not only would it have seen the return of Evelyn Salt, but a couple of main characters from the first movie too. Most of the cast of Salt get assassinated in the movie, but there are two major exceptions. Boris Matveyev (Olek Krupa), the President of Russia, was presumed dead after being shot, but it’s revealed at the end of the movie that he’s still alive, and Salt likely won’t stop until he’s dead, so Krupa would likely return. Chiwetel Ejiofor who plays Peabody, an ONCIX agent in pursuit of Salt, could return too.
Salt 2 Story
Salt is a great conspiracy thriller, and in the end, after preventing nuclear war, Salt escapes CIA custody after vowing to hunt down all the remaining Russian sleeper agents. There’s also a suggestion the new President could be a Russian mole, which set up the Salt 2 movie to follow Evelyn becoming something of a vigilante taking down the KA agents within the U.S. government. Salt‘s ending was clearly left open-ended in the event that the studio could easily develop a sequel if the movie was successful. The sequel that Salt set up hinted at an even better movie than the original film.
Salt 2 Isn’t In Development
As it stands, Salt 2 is unconfirmed and seemingly not currently in development, and despite a script being written, the sequel obviously entered development hell a long time ago. However, while Salt set up a sequel, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there should’ve been one. If Tom Cruise bowed out of the original production because he felt that the character was too similar to his Mission: Impossible counterpart and the TV show was scrapped because it too closely resembled The Blacklist, the original may simply be too derivative to creatively justify a follow-up.
In addition, Angelina Jolie’s Salt received mixed reviews from critics and audiences too, so while it didn’t bomb at the box office, there wasn’t overwhelming demand for more of the story. The problem with the movie was that the characters and storyline relied too heavily on its genre predecessors, trying to take the best parts of earlier, better action-spy flicks without giving the film an original spin or approach. Jolie might have carried the movie, but since she refused to take on Salt 2, studios probably thought it best to shelve the project.